After moving through this process, we ruled out certain key features that would either make the product more expensive to make (e.i. amount of material needed), more difficult to use, or that weren't necessary. We considered making a stove with two burners; however, we decided that was unnecessary to the purpose of the project, and it would add on an extra expense with more material needs. Also, having one burner that produces a quality amount of heat would be a more valuable product than a stove with two burners with decent functionality. We also considered the idea of having a stove with an area for the pot to fit into, thinking that that pot could receive more direct heat from the fuel and be closer to the fuel source. However, we decided that this was a risky plan because we couldn't think of a way to adjust the size of the hole to ensure that different pot sizes would fit. Now thinking back to that problem, I think that an appropriate solution to the problem would be similar to the design of the stove created at Berkeley with different levels of sizes to fit different pot sizes. After ruling out those two key factors, we decided that a more conic shape would be more efficient. This way, less charcoal is burnt in a more condensed space, but the heat will rise and warm up the whole surface of the stove. Another key feature that we decided on was a chimney. Due to the harmful effects of smoke produced during cooking, we wanted to maximize ventilation in order to make a product that will increase the quality of life for those cooking indoors with charcoal. After going through this process, we designed a new sketch that would fit the key features that we had discussed. We also brainstormed extra materials that we would need to request. For the ease of use, we decided that a door would be a good idea to open and close for air flow, and for a door that could be easily closed and shut, we would need a hinge. We also initially planned to use giant screws as the grates of the top layer of the stove.
Working off of this sketch, we created a cardboard model. Our measurements were a bit off the first time, so we modified it to be a bit smaller and to make the top trapezoid shape have a steeper angle outwards. We also decided to put shelves for the fuel to rest on in order to adjust the heat of the stove. Something that we initially did not brainstorm was a method to adjust the heat of the stove. After building our model, we created a simple solution. We built shelves at different heights for low, medium, and high heat.
This is how it turned out:
Moving forward from the card board model, we made a few improvements. On the top left of the last four pictures, it's clear to see that there needed to be a better way to keep the door closed shut. We decided that magnets on for the door on the front and the door on the back would be an excellent way to keep the doors shut, yet they would be very easy to open and close. Also, with a tangible model, it was easier to visualize the process of constructing the stove out of sheet metal, and we sketched out a better way to assemble the sheet metal. This is what our sketch looked like:
This sketch is for the side of the stove This sketch is for the front of the stove
*These sketches do not include the marks for the shelving, the design for the shelf, or the bottom of the stove. We make those without sketching the plans out first. We constructed the new shelving unit by assembling the four main pieces with rivets. Sometimes, the rivets would not work so we used the bolts and nuts to hold the pieces together.The front and back panels and the side panels. These pictures display the process of assembly:
a.) Here you can see how we folded the front and side pieces to fit together correspondingly
b.) Next, we cut out the door for the front of the stove and attached it with a hinge. Then we attached the big door for the back with hinges.
c.) After that, we made a box/shelf for the coal to rest in, along with shelves to hold it up.
d.) We also formed a chimney and a hole for the chimney.
e.) Getting closer to finishing, we began assembling all the the pieces by riveting or using nuts and bolts. And put chicken wire on the top surface of the stove.
In order for the smoke to only escape through the chimney and not the surface of the stove, we decided to put a layer of sheet metal in the surface, reinforced with thick bars to make a more durable and stable surface.
Reflection:
Something pretty major that I learned from this process was that as we worked on the design, especially during the modeling process, we continued to brainstorm ways to improve the stove. Furthermore, I also personally experienced the process of trial and error. There were so many things wrong with our original design that we gradually began to improve while building, but sometimes the adaptions caused new problems. For example, when we transitioned from the cardboard model to the sheet metal stove, there was a problem with the shelving that we did not encounter before because we didn't use a hinge before. If we could do this project over, I would want to attach the hinge in a better way, allowing the shelving to function more smoothly. Apart from trial and error in the design process was the obvious indication of a need for improvement after we actually tested the stove.
RESULTS:
After testing our stove, it was clear that many improvements needed to be made. For one, it took about an hour for the water to warm up to a notable difference, and even then, the temperature of the water was not nearly high enough. We needed the water to get up to 100 C° to boil, and it barely got a little over half of that amount at a whopping 53 C°. Another improvement that we could make to the next design would be to make the shelf go higher up, and with a decreased distance between the fuel and the stove top, the stove would be a lot hotter. Although it did not work as well as we had hoped, I still like that our stove has a versatility of temperature capabilities. Yet another improvement to be made would be to make the base a bit more sturdy, because it was quite wobbly.
